1989 Richmond (Yorks) by-election

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Richmond (Yorks) by-election
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
  1987 23 February 1989 1992  

Richmond (Yorkshire)
 First partySecond partyThird party
 
William Hague Foreign Secretary (2010).jpg
SDP
SLD
Candidate William Hague Mike PotterBarbara Pearce
Party Conservative SDP SLD
Popular vote19,54316,90911,589
Percentage37.2%32.2%22.1%
SwingDecrease2.svg24.0%New partyDecrease2.svg4.9%

MP before election

Leon Brittan
Conservative

Subsequent MP

William Hague
Conservative

A by-election was held in the Richmond (Yorks) constituency of the United Kingdom Parliament on 23 February 1989. It followed the resignation of the sitting Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Leon Brittan on 31 December 1988, to allow him to take up the position of Vice-President of the European Commission.

Contents

The Conservative Party retained the seat, with future party leader William Hague the winner. The result was affected in part to the decision by the remnants of the Social Democratic Party (the part that objected to the merger with the Liberal Party the previous year) to contest the election [ citation needed ] as well as the newly formed Social and Liberal Democrats (who subsequently renamed themselves the Liberal Democrats). The SDP candidate, local farmer Mike Potter, finished second (with 16,909 votes, 2,634 behind Hague), while the Social and Liberal Democrats' Barbara Pearce came third with 11,589.

The Labour Party achieved only fourth place in the election, at that time their worst position in any English by-election since World War II.[ citation needed ]

Hague retained the seat for the next 26 years, winning re-election at the 1992, 1997, 2001, 2005 and 2010 general elections.

Results

Richmond by-election, 1989
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative William Hague 19,54337.2-24.0
SDP Mike Potter16,90932.2N/A
SLD Barbara Pearce11,58922.1−4.9
Labour Frank Robson2,5914.9−6.9
Green Robert Upshall1,4732.8N/A
Monster Raving Loony David "Lord" Sutch 1670.3N/A
IndependentAnthony Millns1130.2N/A
Corrective Party Lindi St Clair 1060.2N/A
Liberal Nicholas Watkins700.1N/A
Majority2,6345.0N/A
Turnout 52,56164.4N/A
Conservative hold Swing

Anthony Millns was an independent candidate who used his occupation "University Information Officer" on the ballot paper. His campaign was focused on keeping the brewery company Theakstons within British ownership. [1]

See also

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